Some More May Sketch a Day Stuff

 

These are all studies, the top one to show the technique I used to do the bottom ones. The video shows the whole process that took just over 2 hours in five minutes. The bottom ones are studies of the excellent BBC series War & Peace. I did them on my Cintiq Companion while freezing a frame on my TV. It was hard to get the colours right and I think that was probably, next to the composition, the biggest challenge. I really enjoy doing them but I prefer using reference but then overlay my own designs and ideas on top of it. 

Sketches from Scratch

After relying a lot on photo-ref for a while now I decided I needed to go back to zero and experiment with brushes and light. These are some that could withstand the light of day. I learned a lot from some lectures at the Industry Workshop event in London last month. Especially Jama's one on brush efficiency was eye opening. I might be addicted to his brush set...

The Lonely Tower

Just before bed sketch, I was inspired by the art of Eytan Zana.
PS. Go watch "True Detective" if you haven't yet!

Some Random Sketches

I just needed to do something else instead of work for a bit, so I did some late night sketches just before bed. I'd almost forgotten how much fun this can be.

Beric Dondarrion

Beric Dondarrion, the Lighting Lord. I've been listening to the Game of Thrones audiobooks while working and it's taking over my imagination. This is a portrait I've done on the side that was never supposed to be finished. But some how I finished it...

Medieval Sketches and a New Job!

 

From the beginning of August I will start as a full-time illustrator at the home of the Total War series, Creative Assembly. I'm really excited and honored to be joining them.
These sketches have nothing to do with my new job but I had them laying around and figured I should post them. The top two environments were speedpaints done to come up with a mood and setting for a more detailed illustration, though I never got the time to do that.

15 Minutes Knight

Just to warm-up.

Substrata - One of the Three Undead Elven Lords...

Substrata Sketch - The Mercenaries

Killzone Inspired Sketches

Whenever I do character speedpaints I often end up with a bunch of Helghasts. For some reason the character designs from Killzone stick with me. Must be those glowing eyes or it's just a part of Dutch pride. Anyway, I thought it was time to do some proper Killzone inspired sketches to get it out of my system.
I went for a desert setting with these ones, mainly since it hasn't been featured in the games yet. However, I did want them to be more heavily armored, so I guess they're sporting climate-control in those suits. The desert setting kinda went out of the window along the line although some features may be reminiscent of it. I really enjoyed doing these and I think I might do a couple more in the near future. Of course this is by no means a job application...(or is it?!)

Re-taking the base - Lunchtime/After work w.i.p.

Heya, As all of my belongings are in boxes I have to do my painting at work. They have a bit of a backward internet security issue that currently prevents me from uploading images from my computer. Therefore I took some pictures with my phone. I'm working in black and white and I will add some color later. The first image is where I was after an hour of work.
The main idea is that she's trying to re-take the base she and her team fought hard to defend (but failed). This time she's being a little more stealthy.

Lunch-breaks are for Sketching

 

Well, this is another lunch-break sketch... Okay, I may have spent a little more than a lunch-break on it. I'm going to post a process gif soon. There's something about the second color variation that I really like. However, I was going for an empty city/earth and so the blue one is more fitting.

And more Lunch-Break Sketches

Since I don't have had the time to spent any time on personal work I like to cram in some sketching in my lunch breaks. Most of them go right in to the dustbin the others I post here.

Lunch-Break sketch 1204076

Inspired by the latest sci-fi designs by Jeff Simpson and reading both "Necromancer" and "Do androids dream of electric sheep" in the last week. I've spent my lunch-break (and a little more time... ssst!) to paint this enforcer of the law. Now, if I spent all my lunch-breaks like this I might actually get somewhere...

This Morning's Speedpaint Woke-up the Brushes

It has been ages since I really went mad with my huge set of brushes. Normally I restrict myself to two or three. Feels really good to be working like this. I should do more... then again, I should do a lot of things more. Oh, well. Back to work!

Some Old Quick Sketches...

These guys were haunting my hard-drive so I had to let them out. Most of them were doodles that were never finished or just completely abandoned. The second from the top was the first sketch for what later became a finished piece. Okay, back to work.

EMP Tank Sketch

I had this laying around, it's just a sketch to illustrate an early idea of an E.M.P. tank. It would be deployed to knock-out all surrounding electric devices. It would then pull-back and let the rest of the squad finish the job.

More Ballpoint Pen doodling

It's nice to sit and draw at a kitchen table and have some cheesy Easter films playing in the background. I'm trying out Sketchbook Pro on my old laptop. If I'm happy with the result I'll post it soon. A few more days and I will be reunited with my trusty set-up. Just about enough time to wear out my ballpoint pens.

Z.E.D's

Some explosive zombies for valentines day. They are a part of my little Mechs vs Zombies project.
2023, the whole of the Americas has been overrun by a mutated Ebola virus, turning almost everyone into zombies. What started as an humanitarian operation by the new superpowers of the world. Ended up as full-on land grab. Creating a new cold war with many open conflicts. The best equipment for this operation are mechs, fusion powered walking tanks. Great for clearing (sub)urban areas of zombies and other threats.
Thousands of survivors on American soil have formed strongholds. From there they do not only try to survive the zombies but also keep their country free of these mechanical invaders. They are the American Human Resistance and their main weapons are ZEDs; zombie explosive devices.
Well more on that project later. Cheers!

Tetsuo!!! Tribute to Akira and CGchub challenge entry.

Last Sunday I spend mostly on the couch watching tv and sketching away in my sketchbook. It was quite some time ago since I managed to render out a drawing with pencil. It really is satisfying though frustrating when you mess up and have to erase. Especially since my eraser is rather big and tends to erase more than intended.
Anyway, I made this drawing for the CGhub.com challenge; "Experiment Gone Wrong". I couldn't really come up with an original idea so I borrowed it from my favourite anime. I have to recommend you read the original manga novel. It's a classic that resonates still in the back of my mind.
Let's hope I'm not disqualified for the challenge... :)